[vimeo http://vimeo.com/6409575 w=470&h=352]
[Pete], a musician, and the guy behind SparkFun’s pogobeds and locking footprints has a sprinkler hack. He wanted to keep his dog, Choppy, happy with a green lawn while also keeping his sidewalk water free. To solve this problem, he hacked his sprinkler and hose to adjust the sprinkler’s range. He uses an Arduino to read a potentiometer signifying the direction that the sprinkler is facing and a servo to adjust a hose valve that controls the sprinkler’s water flow. Be sure to check out the video above to see it in action.
14 thoughts on “Variable Range Sprinkler”
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how to shoot a square pattern with a round pattern device.
Or you can do it mechanically.
http://www.gilmour.com/Watering/Hose-End/Sprinklers/Large-Coverage/Pattern-Master-.aspx
Wonderful. Now all you need is an input device so that you can map the outer perimeter of the fall line. Then the arduino could shoot any pattern you wanted.
That is seriously awesome.
Thanks for sharing!
way sweet post
Odin84gk, you can’t do anything mechanically anymore. This is the digital age! If it doesn’t have an arduino in it, it’s not a hack.
GET OFF MY BROWN PATCHY LAWN!
Brilliant!
another worthy arduino project. keep it up!
Hey thanks! This was a fun project! Sparkfun was kind enough to post it on their homepage yesterday! (http://www.sparkfun.com) And I found out from a comment about another guy doing some fancy sprinklers. No videos, but it sounds pretty cool and you can check it out here: “The SmartRotor” http://www.innogation.com
Also – hey Dixon – great minds think alike! I’m schemin’ up a board that will have 5 trim pots for user input. It will allow you to input different water pressure levels for 5 different windows of sprinkler position. Right now I gotta set my pressure levels in the code and re-upload, but it would be way better to adjust it in real time.
You guys got any other ideas for an input device?
Anybody interested in seeing my hacked arduino sketch? I’m sure there are much more efficient ways to write it, and I’d be happy to learn!
What is the price of this system?
WHY not just connect the sprinkler feedback directly to the valve? With the proper “arm” length, it should be fine?
Hey Martin,
It took quite a bit of force to move the valve, so it was nice to have the strength of the serve to move the valve. I don’t think the mechanical movement of the sprinkler head could have had enough power to move the valve. But hey, maybe with a better valve, it could be done.
You could spray an interesting pattern on a big field, and have this pattern stand out in fresh green grass after a few weeks
Nice, but it won’t work on a windy day!